Last Word

Matthew Bannister on

Sir Brian Urquhart, the international civil servant and war veteran who played a key role in setting up United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Albert Roux, the French-born chef who, with his brother Michel, helped to revolutionise the quality of British restaurant cooking.

Dame Rachel Waterhouse, the chair of the Consumers’ Association whose campaigns were behind many significant improvements in consumer legislation.

And Gerry Marsden, lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, best known for his hit versions of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Ferry ‘Cross The Mersey”.

Interviewed guest: Alison Bernays

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips used: Profile: Brian Urquhart, Radio 4, 28.2.1981; Pathe News – Shaping the Future; The Liberation of Bergen Belsen –WS Historic Moments; Desert Island Discs: Albert & Michel Roux, Radio 4, 1986; Albert & Michel Roux on Roux Scholarship – YouTube; File on 4: Quangos, Radio 4, 7.6.1978; Farming Today, Radio 4, 17.10.1988

Matthew Bannister on

Interviewed guest: Plum Sykes

Archive clips from: HARDtalk, BBC News 11/10/2011; Remembering Rivonia, BBC World Service 06/03/2018; Nelson Mandela Released from Prison, BBC News Archive 11/02/1990; The Fantastic Mr Feynman, dir. Christopher Riley, BBC2 12/05/2013; Bobby, R.K. Films Ltd 28/09/1973; Prem Rog, K.R. Films Ltd. 31/07/1982; Agneepath, Dharma Productions/Eros International 26/01/2012.

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Julian Worricker on

Millie Jones, the singer who brought ska rhythms and Jamaican culture to a global audience with her hit song My Boy Lollipop.

JJ Williams, the Llanelli, Wales and British Lions winger who became one of the stars of world rugby.

Dame Fanny Waterman, who co-founded the Leeds International Piano Festival and introduced many of the greatest pianists of our time.

And consumer champion Maurice Healy, editor of Which? magazine and director of the National Consumer Council, who was instrumental in bringing in shopping on a Sunday, cheaper air fares and better food labelling.

Interviewed guest: Chris Blackwell

Producer: Paul Waters

Matthew Bannister on

Interviewed guest: Adam Sisman

Producer: Neil George

Matthew Bannister on

Mario Molina, the chemist who won the Nobel prize for revealing the devastating impact of CFCs on the ozone layer.

Irina Antonova, the director of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow for more than fifty years. She was caught up in a controversy over her refusal to send back priceless works of art looted by the Soviet Army at the end of the Second World War.

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, President of France between 1974 and 1981. He introduced liberal social reforms and was a passionate supporter of closer European integration.

Peter Alliss, the jovial former player who became known as TV’s “Voice of Golf”

Interviewed guest: Tony Adamson

Producer: Neil George

Matthew Bannister on:

Hamish MacInnes, the mountaineer known as “The Fox of Glencoe”. He climbed the Matterhorn aged 16, made four trips to Everest and was a stalwart of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team. He was also an inventor, coming up with an all metal ice axe and a collapsible stretcher for use in rescue operations. His services were much in demand as an advisor to big budget films like The Eiger Sanction, the Mission and even Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Professor Anne Rasa, an expert in animal behaviour who studied the matriarchal society of the dwarf mongoose and then set up a sanctuary for meerkats in the Kalahari region.

The Spanish DJ Jose Padilla who pioneered chill out music by providing a soundtrack to the sunset on Ibiza.

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes, BBC 4, 01/11/2020; Singular Scots, Radio 4, 12/09/1991; A Time to Talk, Radio Scotland, 10/01/1974; The Eiger Sanction, The Malpaso Company/ Universal Pictures; Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Python (Monty) Pictures / EMI Films; Natural Selection: Mongoose, BBC Bristol, 25/10/1985; Jóse Padilla – An Ibiza Original, A Fact Magazine Documentary; Moments in Love: A History of Chillout Music, Radio 2, 01.05.2004

Pictured: Diego Maradona

Matthew Bannister on:

Diego Maradona, the flawed footballing genius who was worshipped by fans in Argentina and his adopted home city of Naples before drug abuse and scandal tainted his reputation. We speak to Asif Kapadia, director of the acclaimed film about Maradona’s life.

Rosalind Grimshaw, the talented stained glass artist whose works include a spectacular window depicting the seven days of creation at Chester Cathedral.

And Jan Morris, the author of more than 50 books chronicling her travels around the world and one describing her decision to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

Interviewed guest: Asif Kapadia

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Today, Radio 4 26/11/2020; 5 Live Breakfast, 26/11/2020; Diego Maradona, directed by Asif Kapadia, On The Corner/Film 4 14/06/2019; Match Commentary: World Cup 1990 Semi Final - Italy v Argentina, BBC Sound Archive 1990; Woman’s Hour, Radio 4 29/03/2003; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 16/06/2002; Profile, Radio 4 01/06/1978; The Verb, Radio 4 14/02/2020.

Pictured: Des O'Connor

Matthew Bannister on

The comedian Des O’Connor, an all-round entertainer equally at home telling jokes, hosting a chat show or recording an album.

Richard Trim, the radar engineer who developed the technology that supports modern air traffic control systems.

Dr Ataullah Siddiqui, the leading Muslim scholar who played a major role in creating inter-faith dialogue.

Edith Raymond Locke, the editor of Mademoiselle Magazine who supported the early careers of fashion designers like Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan.

Interviewed guest: David Steadman

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 01/09/1969; Jimmy Tarbuck, The Daily Mail 17/11/2020; One Minute With Des O’Connor, Radio 1 01/01/2000; The Morecambe & Wise Show, BBC Two 25/12/1975; Front Row, Radio 4 06/10/2011; Jimmy Tarbuck, ITV News 16/11/2020; This Morning, ITV 16/11/2020; Countdown, Channel 4 29/09/2008; Good Morning Britain, ITV 16/11/2020; Tomorrow's World, BBC One 15/01/1997; Ataullah Siddiqui, Cardiff University/Islam UK 21/01/2019.

Pictured: Lord Sacks

Matthew Bannister on

The former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, a respected scholar and broadcaster who reached out to other faiths, but had trouble reconciling the different strains of opinion in his own.

John Sessions, the actor and comedian who used his gift for improvisation and mimicry in TV shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway, Spitting Image and Stella Street. Clive Anderson and Sir Kenneth Branagh pay tribute.

Joanna Harcourt-Smith, the socialite who was friends with the Rolling Stones, campaigned to get Timothy Leary released from prison and struggled with addiction. Once she entered recovery she hosted an early podcast called Future Primitive.

Jim Radford, the singer-songwriter and peace campaigner who took part in the D-Day landings aged 15 – and later performed his song based on the experiences at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the 70th Anniversary.

Interviewed guest: Dr Rowan Williams

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 26/041991; Sunday, Radio 4 25/08/2013; Today, Radio 4 28/11/2019; Whose Line Is It Anyway, Channel 4 1988; Whose Line Is It Anyway, Radio 4 February 1988; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 25/02/1990; Finding Your Feet, directed by Richard Loncraine, Eclipse Films 2017; Napoleon by John Sessions, directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh 1989; Margaret, directed by James Kent, Great Meadow Productions 2009; Future Primitive: Heartmending, 23/08/2020; My Psychedelic Love Story, directed by Errol Morris, Fourth Floor Productions 22/10/2020; Good Morning Britain, ITV 31/05/2019; D-Day Veteran Goes Back to the Beaches, BBC Three Counties Radio 06/06/2019; Jim Radford Goes Back to Normandy, Legasee Educational Trust 01/08/2017; BBC News 05/06/2019.

Pictured: Sir Sean Connery

Matthew Bannister on

Sir Sean Connery, seen by many as the definitive James Bond, he won an Oscar for The Untouchables and was a supporter of the Scottish National Party.

Eavan Boland, who changed the course of Irish poetry by making women’s experiences central to her work.

The footballer Nobby Stiles, one of only two Englishmen to have won both the World Cup and the European Cup.

Bobby Ball, the comedian whose double act with Tommy Cannon was hugely popular on TV during the 1980s. His catchphrase was “Rock On Tommy”.

Interviewed guest: Christopher Bray

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Sean Connery In His Own Words, BBC 2 Scotland 18/08/2015; Dr No, directed by Terence Young, Eon Productions 1962; With Great Pleasure, Radio 4 09/11/2000; ‘Our Future Will Become The Past of Other Women’ by Eavan Boland, read by Fiona Shaw, The Royal Irish Academy 09/12/2018; Archive on 4: Four Women Poets Today, Radio 4 18/07/2020; My Top Ten: Bobby Ball, Radio 1 15/09/1985; Not Going Out, BBC One 30/12/2009.